Return to work and breastfeeding

[lapinpunki]

The WHO recommends breastfeeding until the age of 2. Maternity leave is only until the age of 1.
My question is: what are our rights as breastfeeding mothers when it comes to being deployed or sent on exercises (field ex or sailing etc).

* I am Navy and will be sailing. I still breastfeed my daughter still and she refused the bottle. Would I be in the rights to request a shore posting? (To be posted to a ship that is not sailing)

 

[Stoker]

The WHO recommends breastfeeding until the age of 2. Maternity leave is only until the age of 1.
My question is: what are our rights as breastfeeding mothers when it comes to being deployed or sent on exercises (field ex or sailing etc).

* I am Navy and will be sailing. I still breastfeed my daughter still and she refused the bottle. Would I be in the rights to request a shore posting? (To be posted to a ship that is not sailing)

Well unfortunately things such as breastfeeding is not really a excuse for a shore posting. I assume you just came off maturity leave correct? How many sea days do you have, stuff like that is looked at.

 

[Navy_Pete]

Have you completed your basic qualification for your trade?  That's normally the minimum position requirement for any shore postings, and depending on you trade, may be extremely limited because most of the LS jobs will be on board ship.

AFAIK there is no specific accommodation for something like this. I honestly don't think I've ever heard of this particular request, so would be curious how it gets resolved.

Even with a shore posting, there are always shortages in the fleet, so no guarantee you won't sail.  Can't really think how that would allow you to continually breastfeed throughout the day anyway, as you would still need to be at work during the day, so would probably need to pump for a bottle feeding anyway, no?

Have you considered a doula or one of the newborn support nurses for support?  Suspect they would have some experience in helping mothers transition back to work.

ps. Realized when I finished typing I am probably a weird name to respond; for background my wife had a whole circle of cloth diapering/breastfeeding moms as friends so absorbed a ton of info from their convos or what they went through. 

 

[mariomike]

My question is: what are our rights as breastfeeding mothers when it comes to being deployed or sent on exercises (field ex or sailing etc).

Some discussion in 2012 of US military and CAF breast feeding policy here,

Photo of breastfeeding Guardswomen stirs debate 
https://army.ca/forums/threads/106203.0.html
4 pages
Locked.